The Magic Snake- The Sword of Kali ........

[Guest guest]

Ref post 29936

 

Dear Vinayaka-ji,

 

You ask :

 

(and secondly when totapuri asked gurumaharaj why he went to divine

mother to ask whether it is advisable to undertake the nirguna

advaita sadhana if he has already practiced and experienced that

state?)

 

Vinayaka-ji , Do you recall that incident in Sri Ramakrishna's life

when one day at the the Dakshineswar temple, the young priest longed

and yearned for the Actual Divine vision of his Ishta-nishta Mother

Kali ? In sheer desperation , sri Ramakrishna grabbed Kali's sword

behind the altar and was going to end his life. At that moment,

Mother Kali herself appeared before him and granted him 'darshan'

which Sri Ramakrishna himself described as "an infinite, conscious

sea of light" (Mahendra Nath Gupta. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.

New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center).

>From that moment on, Sri Ramakrishna dedicated his entire life to

Mother Kali and was often quoted as saying " Not a leaf moves except

by the will of God. Where is man's free will? All are under the will

of God. Therefore I say: 'O Mother, I am the machine and Thou art the

Operator; I am the chariot and Thou art the Driver.I move as Thou

movest me; I do as Thou makest me do'."

 

No wonder then , he wanted his Divine Mother's permission before he

undertook 'advaita' vedanta Sadhana under his guru Totapuri.

 

Totapuri however realized that in order for Sri Ramakrishna to

realize the formless reality called 'Brahman' , sri Ramakrishna has

to cut the 'umbilical' cord ( his connection) to a personal goddess.

When Totapuri found that Goddess Kal was standing in the way of Sri

Ramakrishna's Brahman realization, Totapuri himself took a sharp

stone and pressed it firmly against Sri Ramakrishna's forehead and

instructed him to concentrate on the pain and assuring

him that he could transcend the divine form and merge into the

infinite expanse of the absolute.

 

Once more, Ramakrishna meditated and, as he later expressed it he

could transcend the divine form and merge into the infinite expanse

of the absolute. Sri RAMAKRISHNA later confessed , "with the sword

of wisdom, I cut through the divine form of Kali." Her form

dissolved, and his individuality completely disappeared into Her

formless aspect. For three days Ramakrishna was completely lost to

the world in a near state of suspended animation called Nirodha,

seated in the small Meditation Hut, motionless, all breathing and

body functions slowed to a standstill.

 

(http://www.angelfire.com/realm/bodhisattva/totapuri.html )

 

and Vinayakaji , the first part of your question is :

 

(But sir my base for arguementation was why he faced difficulty in

the presence of the tota puri to attain samadhi? )

 

I think you will find the answer to the first part of your question

answered in the paragraph above. Sri RAMAKRISHNA was attached to the

personal form of the Goddess and It was because of His guru's

Grrace , Sri Ramakrishna was able to sever that connection

temporarily.

 

and what took a great advaita guru like Totapuri 40 years to

accomplish a state of nirvikalpa samadhi , Sri Ramakrishna was able

to attain in a matter of three days. How do you explain that,

vinayakaji? This shows that Sri Ramakrishna was already a 'uttama'

adhikari ( the most qualified spiritual aspirant.) All it took was

Guru's amd Goddess's grace.

 

Here, it is interesting to recall what Sri Ramakrishna himself says

about a competent Guru :

 

"One day as I was going through Panchavati I heard the fearful

croaking of some frog. I guessed one must have been caught by a

snake. When after a long time i was returning that way i heard the

same noise again . Peeping through the bushes I saw a water-snake

with a frog in its mouth. The water snake neither swallowed it nor

let the frog go, and there was no end to the agony of the frog. THEN

I thought. "well if it had been the victim of a venemous snake, it

would have been silenced for ever after three croaks at the most.

Now the snake's suffering is almost equal to the frog's. "

 

Shri Ramakrishna paramahamsa says , "if an unenlightened man takes

upon in his foolhardiness the responsibility of saving another, there

is no end to the misery of both. Neither is the ego of the disciple

nor his worldly ties will vanish. but, under a competent guru,

the 'egoism' perishes in three croaks."

 

(from the parables of Sri Ramakrishna )

 

However, did Sri Ramakrishna stop worshipping the personal form of

mother Goddess Kali once he attained Brahma-jnana? No, he continued

to worship Mother Kali. A parama jnani is also a parama bhakta and

vice versa.

 

Thakore said ""Brahman and Sakti are identical, like fire and

its power to burn. Whwn we talk of fire, we automatically mean also

its power to burn. Again, the fire's power to burn implies the fire

itself. If you accept the one you must accept the other. Brahman

alone is addressed as the MOther. This is because a mother is an

object of great love. One is able to realize GOD just through love.

Ecstasy of feeling, devotion, love and faith-these are the

means. "(from the gospel of Sri. Ramakrishna).

 

On another note, It is said in order for us to understand the Brahma

sutras of Adi Shankara , we need to leave behind all concepts such as

Saivism, Vaishnavism etc ( in fact personal gods, names and forms)

then only can we understand the impersonal aspects of Brahman. ( can

someone here quote the relevant portion of the brahma sutra on this,

pl?)

 

Warmest regards

 

ps